HELP US END MASS INCARCERATION The Prison Policy Initiative uses research, advocacy, and organizing to dismantle mass incarceration. We’ve been in this movement for 22 years, thanks to individual donors like you.

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Peter Wagner, Executive Director Donate
Graph showing the state prison incarceration rate for the United States from 1925 to 2012 and the incarceration rates for 5 select states from 1978-2012. The graph shows that the diversity between the states is almost as dramatic -- and sometimes contrary to -- the larger national trend.

Data Source: For detailed sourcing, see http://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/overtime.html#select50. (Graph: Peter Wagner, 2014)

This graph originally appeared in Tracking State Prison Growth in 50 States.

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